A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from American Airlines Group Inc AAL, Caterpillar Inc. CAT and JetBlue Airways Corporation JBLU. Intel Corporation INTC, Western Digital Corp WDC and Starbucks Corporation SBUX will release earnings after the closing bell. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The new home sales report for December and the index of leading economic indicators for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 43 points to 26,316.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6 points to 2,847.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 31.25 points to 6,963.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.48 percent to trade at $70.87 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.75 percent to trade at $66.10 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.46 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.12 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.07 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.06 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.50 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.13 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.92 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.31 percent and India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.31 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Telsey Advisory Group downgraded Best Buy Co Inc BBY from Outperform to Market Perform.

Best Buy shares fell 0.33 percent to $76.54 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• McCormick & Company, Incorporated MKC reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.



• Ford Motor Company F reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.



• Northrop Grumman Corporation NOC reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.



• Ocular Therapeutix Inc OCUL disclosed a common stock offering. The amount was not disclosed.